Justification:
Even though this species is heavily collected in southeastern Brazil and may be locally threatened, it has a relatively wide distribution globally and is not harvested in most of its range. It is listed as Least Concern, but more data on population status and harvest levels are necessary.

This species is found in the Lesser Antilles, Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles), Venezuela on the northern coast of South America and southern Brazil (Burgess 2002, L. Rocha pers. comm. 2009). The type specimen was collected in about 15 to 20m deep in a patch of staghorn coral, but specimens have been taken in traps off Saint Lucia in excess of 300 m (Burgess 2002).

Common among isolated patches of staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis in the southern Caribbean. In Brazil, it is abundant and stable over rubble bottoms of the state of Espirito Santo and Bahia, and common in deep reefs in the northeastern coast. There are accounts of up to 75% localized declines in abundances in the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo as a result of harvesting for the aquarium trade (C.E.L. Ferreira pers. comm. 2009).

The main threat to this species is extraction for the aquarium trade, especially in Brazil, where it is sold both locally and exported to the US and Europe. While there is evidence of localized declines due to commercial collection, harvest levels are not considered to be impacting the global population.

This species is present in some protected areas, for example the Abrolhos Marine National Park, Brazil. A maximum quota of 5,000 specimens for export from Brazil has been established for this species, which exceeds the current collection levels. It will be included in the Sao Paulo State Red List (A. Carvalho-Filho pers. comm. 2009), which will regulate trade.